ZAGREB, March 21 (Hina) - White storks are returning from the south of Africa to the first European stork village of Cigoc, located in the nature park of Lonjsko Polje, some 60 km south-east of Zagreb. The first stork arrived in Cigoc
last Monday and its partner arrived a day later.
ZAGREB, March 21 (Hina) - White storks are returning from the south of
Africa to the first European stork village of Cigoc, located in the
nature park of Lonjsko Polje, some 60 km south-east of Zagreb. The
first stork arrived in Cigoc last Monday and its partner arrived a day
later.#L#
At the end of April, storks will start laying eggs in their old and
new nests. It takes 33-34 days for the chicken to start hatching. The
storks will stay in Croatia until late August, when they set out to
Africa again, on a journey lasting 8-15 weeks, during which they will
cover 10,000-12,000 km. The offspring will stay in Africa for the next
two-three years until they are ready to mate, while their parents will
return to Cigoc again next spring.
The residents of Cigoc this year organised an event to welcome the
first storks.
Cigoc was the first village to be declared the European village of
storks in 1994 by the European natural heritage foundation EURONATUR.
After Cigoc, the same title was awarded to villages in Hungary,
Germany, Spain, Romania, Slovenia, Poland and Austria.
Some 1,500 pairs of white stork nest in Croatia. Most stork nests can
be seen in Cigoc, where the birds nest on the roofs of old wood
houses.
Black stork, too, nests in Lonjsko Polje but this bird lives outside
of human settlements and nests high on trees.
(Hina) rml